Pretty Things
by Take Me Back To Gallifrey
Summary: Jane thinks back over the end of her much too short human life. ONESHOT.


**Pretty Things.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, Stephenie Meyer does. I'm just borrowing Jane for the purposes of this story.**

**Summery: Jane thinks back over the end of her much too short human life.**

**Spoliers: None (unless of course you don't already know about Jane's background.)**

**Author Notes: I was bored last night and got to thinking about Jane. I've always felt a little bit sorry for her, the way her human life went, and how it ended. So i thought i might explore her story a bit. Jane's P.O.V. it's short, but don't hold that against it lol Enjoy, and please review :)**

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As I understood it, most little girls are delighted to have pretty things to play with, pretty dresses and ribbons to wear in their hair. I never liked pretty things, and I was never given pretty things. I don't recall how old I was when I realized that Alec and I were different from the rest of our family. Perhaps he discovered it before I did, I've never asked him. I was never really sure exactly how we were different. I knew that sometimes strange things would happen around us, and we would be blamed, but I don't ever remember doing anything wrong. I do that night very clearly however. The night I first saw a pair of red eyes at my window. I'd been sure that those bright, staring eyes should have frightened me but for some odd reason, they didn't. I'd jumped up out of my bed – luckily I was light enough on my small feet that I wouldn't wake mother and father – and crossed the room quickly, kneeling down by Alec's bed. I'd had to shake his shoulder and whisper so loudly in his ear that I was sure I would be discovered at any moment. Mother used to say that Alec had been a heavier sleeper than I was since we were born. Alec was also mother's favorite, and maybe father's too. "Alec!" I'd hissed as loudly as I dared, my every breath had seemed so loud in our little room that night. "Alec! Wake up!" Finally he'd woken and stared at me with puzzled green eyes – I still wonder if that's why he was mother's favorite, because his eyes were green like hers. "Jane? Is it morning already?" He'd mumbled sleepily around a yawn. "No. I have to show you something. Quickly." I my head and grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet and to the window that overlooked my bed.

But we were too late. The red eyes I'd seen watching me were no longer there. I saw nothing now but the dark moonless night. "But I saw red eyes at the window...they were right here, looking at me.." I muttered quietly, sounding more than a little confused. "Sister," Alec said, skepticism clear in his voice. "You probably just had a bad dream. Go back to sleep before mother finds us awake." He'd hurried back to his own bed then, worried that mother would discover us both out of bed. Though I knew it was silly, I didn't want to move. So I didn't, for a very long time, long after Alec had started snoring again.

The next morning I found the courage to tell mother what I had seen. She'd turned to Alec, of course, and asked him if he had seen anything at the window last night. "No mother." He'd answered obediently and flashed mother's favorite smile. It didn't take mother long to dismiss what I'd seen, putting it down to listening to father's 'silly ghost stories' before bedtime. I watched, night after night for the strange red eyes I'd seen. But I didn't see them again until months later, long after I'd given up looking for them. I didn't tell Alec or mother this time, I was sure they still wouldn't have believed me anyway. The strange things were still happening around Alec and I, more often now. I still don't remember doing anything to cause it. I'd started noticing the people in town would look at us in an odd way when they passed us in the street with mother. Mother and father had begun to look at us oddly too. I couldn't be sure then but I'd thought that they looked like they were scared of us. I know now that my thoughts had been correct, they _were_ frightened of us, the whole town was terrified of two innocent children. I'd hidden by the door one night, thinking that Alec was in the room and intending to sneak up on him. But it was Alec, it was mother and father. I was about to turn and go looking for my brother when I heard my name and Alec's too. It instantly made me curious, why would mother and father be talking about us in such hushed, worried tones? I didn't understand most of what they'd said, but some words I did understand. Words that sounded wrong when they were being used with mine and Alec's names. Words like dangerous, and abomination. I'd even heard mother say something about the devil. Then I'd heard a word that I did know something about, and it sent a cold shiver down my spine. Witchcraft. I didn't understand what the word itself meant but I knew the punishment for it. Burning at the stake.

Suddenly, all of these words clicked into place in my mind and some unconscious self preservation instinct kicked in. I understood now. Our parents thought we were witches, they were going to send us to burn, just like our town had burned others who they believed to be witches. I raced outside to find Alec. It was already beginning to get dark so I knew he wouldn't be far away. I could feel the tears that streaked my face but I paid them no mind. I found my twin skimming stones on the lake. "Alec! W-we have t-to runaway.." I stuttered through my tears and grabbed at his arm, pulling with all my might. "Wha-" I cut him off quickly. "All the strange things that keep happening...mother and f-father think w-we're m-making them happen...they think..." I had to choke back a sob before I could force the words from my lips. "They think we're witches Alec! They're going to let them burn us!" Whether it was because he believed me, or because he was terrified by the play of emotions on my face, I don't know, but Alec followed me. We ran as far into the woods as our legs would carry us before it got too dark to see where our feet were and too cold to move even if we'd wanted to. But it wasn't far enough. With their torches burning bright, they discovered our hiding place easily. Almost the entire town was there, with mother and father leading the hunt. All of the fear I'd felt had changed, twisted itself into anger and hatred for the people who hunted me, until that was all I could feel. Alec cringed into my side. Though I was only minutes older than him, at this moment the difference felt more like decades. "Don't be scared Alec." I soothed my twin and took his hand. We prepared to meet our death together.

I didn't struggle or try to fight while they paraded us through town, as a warning to others who may have been 'in league with the devil.' I heard Alec choke out a quiet sob as rough hands tied us to the stake. There were no tears left in me. I squeezed me eyes closed tight while they set light to the pile of wood and papers we were standing on. My every though became consumed by one wish, that I could make them all feel the same pain that I would soon be feeling, to burn each and every one of them where they stood. I didn't open my eyes again until the screaming started. For one short moment I thought it was myself who was screaming. Then I realized it wasn't just one voice screaming, it was several, each of them fallen silent almost as suddenly as they'd screamed. I couldn't see what was making them scream, or making them fall silently to the ground. All I saw were glimpses of dark cloaks, moving much too fast for me to see. The screaming soon stopped altogether, but the flames were still climbing, inching closer to Alec and I. Before I could open my mouth to beg someone to help us, lightening fast hands were untying our ropes and pulling us away from the rapidly building fire. And then he was there standing in front of us and looking paler than bone in the moonlight. The red eyes I'd seen at my window were looking down on my brother and I with almost fatherly concern. Was this the devil then, just as my parents had said? No, surely the devil would not have pulled us from that skate. "Don't fret my dear ones. No one will ever dare to punish you for your astounding gifts again." Aro had smiled at us both pleasantly, almost like stealing children away from their final moments was an everyday occurrence for him. "Come now, dear Alec and dearest Jane, there is much to be done, preparations must be made." I looked at him, curiosity burning in my eyes. "Preparations?" I asked timidly. Aro smiled, a wide beaming smile. It was so menacing that it should have terrified me, I'd wondered what it meant that I felt no fear at all. "Yes Jane dear, preparations for your new life." He turned to one of the black cloaked figures behind him, the largest of them I'd thought. "Dispose of them, Felix." He'd nodded towards the lifeless bodies of the townspeople, my parents among them. Aro gathered Alec and I up in his arms as though we weighed nothing at all and ran, so fast I was sure we must be flying, towards our new life.


End file.
